Today’s boilers are experiencing continuing pollution control limits in the form of emissions reduction legislation. While the public, media, and policy environment often think of pollution control as a signal problem, most engineers understand emissions are a chain of complex problems. Boilers are used in many applications and, in general, provide either hot water or steam.
The primary products of combustion are carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O), excess oxygen (O2), and nitrogen (N2), all generated from the exothermic reaction. Trace compounds or species also potentially generated in products of combustion are often measured in parts per million (ppm). Harmful pollutants include nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and other particulates.